Rough Stretch
by ZeroIXResoleon
Summary: Hilda had lost ten consecutive times to Cheren and now, she just might have had enough... One Shot Fanfiction.


Hello, everybody, Resoleon here and welcome to another Pokémon Fanfiction.

I'm dead serious when I said this: I wrote this down out of my own frustration. If you want to have some fun with this, feel free to imagine how I was feeling while I was writing this down.

But anyway, I'm glad to be writing my share of Pokémon stories and I hope you'll enjoy this one.

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**Hilda Short Story: Rough Stretch**

In Nuvema Town, Hilda and Cheren were having a battle. Hilda's Snivy had just been beaten yet again by Cheren's Tepig. To tell the truth, Hilda had lost ten consecutive times to Cheren in this matchup alone. She had no idea why. Hilda always somehow manages this matchup quite decently. But now with eleven consecutive losses, something was amiss for sure. Cheren sighed and withdrew Tepig.

Cheren had a look of concern on Hilda who was on her knees, looking down on her defeated Snivy in complete distraught. "Hilda...you're clearly not doing something right."

Hilda glared at Cheren with somewhat subtle tears. "Oh, no really, Sherlock!"

Cheren nods in disapproval. "Hilda, getting mad at you or me will not help things. It's time to for us to try different approaches. What happened, Hilda? You usually manage the matchup with Tepig quite well."

Hilda doesn't bother to look up at Cheren. "I...don't know, okay? Can you please just leave me alone? I'm in a really bad mood right now and I need to vent in private."

Cheren's face went blank. "I understand. You're a good trainer, Hilda. Remember that you are. I just think you're going through something, whether it's just a tough stretch, or just plain bad luck."

Hilda glares up at Cheren again. "I said...leave me alone."

Cheren turns around. "As you wish, Hilda." Cheren leaves after saying his sentence.

After about another minute, sitting on her knees, staring at her Snivy that was looking very somber, Hilda nods and picks Snivy up instead of withdrawing it. Hilda wasted no time retreating to her room, saying a quick hello to her mom and closing the door to her bedroom shut with her inside the room. The female trainer flings her cap away, let's Snivy down and threw herself onto the bed facedown into the pillows.

Five seconds later, she begins to scream into the pillows while crying at the same time. A knock could be heard at the door. Hilda raised her head from the pillows and opens the door to find a concerned mother looking down on her.

Hilda's mom rubs her hair before talking. "Sweetie, what's the matter?"

Hilda slowly lets her head down as she felt the hand stroking her head. "I...messed up...I messed up bad!" Hilda bawled uncontrollably for a few seconds.

Hilda's mom guided her to her bed. She puts Hilda's head on her lap and continues to stroke her head. Hilda had to admit to herself that she felt like a baby but so far, it felt soothing to her. Snivy climbed on the bed, next to the two.

Hilda's mom had a bittersweet smile on her face as she looks down on Hilda who was looking up at her with bloodshot eyes from so much crying. "You are just like me when I was your age, Hilda. I was so headstrong, foolhardy and resilient. Let me tell you right now, you sometimes make me feel like a teenager again. But I'm speaking to you from experience now. Everybody goes through a tough stretch like this."

Hilda, who was looking up directly at her mom's face was looking at her with eyes of a helpless infant. She slowly nodded at her mom.

Hilda's mom continued to smile down on her. "It's hard to deal with, I know. You want to get out of the hole you dug for yourself but all you end up doing is making the hole deeper. It happens. How many times have you lost, if you don't mind me asking?"

Hilda took a few seconds before responding. "Eleven...it stinks..."

Hilda's mom maintained the sympathetic smile. "I know it stinks, Hilda. I'll tell you three things that go into slides like yours. Here's the first thing I've learned. Streaks are meant to be broken and only work gets you through it. You can't keep losing forever unless you let yourself lose. If you keep trying your best, you know there will be a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how many times you lose."

"Don't you think losing eleven times is too many?" Hilda asked.

Hilda's mom ignored her question. "Here's the second thing. It's okay to feel frustrated as long as you don't do anything bad to vent it out. Frustration on your part is completely normal. Nobody likes to lose in the game of Pokémon, I'm sure. It may feel unpleasant but just keep in mind that it's completely normal to feel frustrated to a degree."

Hilda glances at Snivy who had eyes locked onto her. Hilda looks back up at her mom to urge her to continue. "What's the third thing?"

Hilda's mom smiled down onto her again. "The third thing...is that to always remember that your Pokémon are with you no matter how bad you two lose together. I'm sure your Snivy wants you to feel better right now. It's part of the hardships that Pokémon and trainer have to face together. Pokémon and their trainers will always have each other no matter what they go through and as long as they remember their bond, they know that they can find a way to win again."

Hilda takes a few minutes to take this in. Hilda sits up from her mother's lap and gave a faint smile to her. "Can...I please be alone, mom?"

Hilda's mom goes out the door. "Sure, honey." She closes the door on her way out.

Hilda and Snivy look at each other for a very long time. Hilda and Snivy embrace each other as they both cried silently.

Hilda spoke as her tears fell down her cheek. "I'm sorry Snivy. I just got so carried away trying to beat Cheren. I didn't mean for you to get hurt so many times senselessly, Snivy. Anyway...can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Snivy's response is to lick Hilda's tears away.

Hilda laughs a bit. "Okay, Snivy...I'll take that as a yes..."

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About an hour later, Hilda was lying down on her bed, thinking about what to do the next time she faces Cheren. She hears another knock on the door.

"Come in." Hilda replied flatly.

Hilda looks to see that Bianca was there. Hilda smiled toward her and sat up on her bed. Bianca was holding something in her hand; a bag of some sort.

"Hi, Bianca. Please have a seat." Hilda invited.

Bianca sat down very close to Hilda next to the bed. She puts the bag in Hilda's hands. "I heard from Cheren that you weren't feeling like yourself. So I decided you needed some cheering up."

"Thanks, Bianca. What's in this bag?" Hilda looks inside the bag.

"It's cookies that Cheren and I made for you, Hilda. It was Cheren's idea. He didn't come because he was afraid that you were still mad."

Hilda looks to the side. "I was mad at myself, Bianca. I have to be a better trainer."

Bianca puts a hand on Hilda's shoulder. "Look, Cheren may be better than you at the moment but I still think you're a bit better than Cheren overall."

Hilda continued to look at the wall as she felt the weight of Bianca's comforting hand on her shoulder. "No, I don't need to be better than Cheren. I need to be a better trainer than I was during those eleven loses. Cheren is Cheren. I can't change the way he battles. I can only change how I battle."

Bianca took her hand off of Hilda's shoulder and looked at her with a faint smile. "It sounds like you're feeling better already. Please have a cookie, Hilda."

Hilda reaches in and grabs a single cookie at puts it in her mouth. She was astounded with the taste. "Wow...these are great! I love the moist level and the raisins and chocolate chips together in this!"

Bianca giggles. "They say the quickest way to a man's heart his through his stomach. OH! Wait! You're a girl!"

Hilda and Bianca laugh for a about minute. After that minute passed, Hilda felt as though a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She couldn't help but smile avidly.

Bianca notices this. "It looks like you're feeling better already, Hilda. I'm glad! We were really worried for you."

Without thinking, Hilda embraced Bianca. Bianca felt a bit surprised but she returned the hug.

Hilda spoke as she had her arms around Bianca. "Thank you, Bianca. I'm so glad to have friends like you and Cheren. You know what? I'll try to end it."

"End what?"

"My streak of eleven consecutive losses." Hilda parted herself from Bianca.

Bianca smiled at Hilda. "Then go do it! I'll be rooting for you!"

Hilda looks out the window before talking. "I'll keep this in mind as I'm battling Cheren: No matter how many times I lose, I'll still remember that I have my Pokemon, my family, the professor, Cheren and you, Bianca."

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As always, thanks for reading and I'll be training now for my next battles!

If you liked this or have something to tell, please leave a review. I love reading what you guys think! As long as it's not flame of course. Tee-hee!

**Rough Stretch: End**


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